Don't let her get hurt
by AirborneGirl
Summary: A third person's POV as Harm and Mac fight. Again. Set right before Paraguay.


**Don't let her get hurt.**

**AN:** And so it happens again. The little switch that's called "Inspiration" just flicked on in my head and made me write this. Let me know if you appreciate it or if I should switch it off again. Story written from a third person's POV, you can make up your own mind who you think that person could/should be.

**Disclaimer:** Just borrowing, not mine. Won't break them, just toying with them.

**Spoilers**: None I can think of...but before Paraguay. In this story, Mac tells Harm about her and Webb's "mission" at the office, without appearing to be pregnant.

_On with it..._

Typical. That, at least is the way this day started out to be. Another mundane day at the JAG office. And, as is also typical of a day here at the office, there was a fight. Just a standard Harm/Mac fight. With hard spoken words, barely hidden innuendo's and double meanings, slamming doors...you know, typical.

Most of us working here don't even look up from our business anymore, we're used to it. We can all predict the words, the outcome, the long-term results. It has stopped being funny ages ago. Now I guess it's just...sad.

Rabb vs. MacKenzie, take two. Lights, camera, aggrevation!

She storms out of his office, yelling in high-pitched tone.

"I'm sorry to inform you, Commander, but you have no say in what I can or can not do. This assignment is nothing I can't handle!"

He strides after her, grabbing her arm to keep her from seeking refuge inside her office. Mad as he is, he's blocking out the surrounding area. We're not even here any more. Again, we're used to that. But we don't move an inch either to accomodate them.

"For God's sake, Mac, it's Webb's idea. Of course it's something you can't handle! It's something he can't handle, it's something nobody could handle!"

Gotta hand it, he has a point. Sure she'll miss it.

"Oh, so now I'm incapable, is that it?"

See? Not even close. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off radar. And she knows it too. It's just a strategy, concocted so she doesn't have to face the fact that indeed, the Commander has a valid point.

Of course, he reacts with his own strategy. Which consists of a mixture of rage and indignation, with just a splash of damaged ego...all to cover up the pile of worried wannabe boyfriend not so secretly hidden underneath it all.

"You know better than that! You know it's not what I meant. I know you're every inch capable of handling yourself in any given situation. Only you know just as well as I do that whatever the spook comes up with, always ends up badly. Something will go wrong and you'll be stuck in the middle. And I don't like that thought."

For a moment, it almost seems like he's cut off her retorts, but, as usual, you can't let the Colonel's look decieve you.

"Oh I see. I get the problem. You say you have faith in me, but those are empty words, aren't they? So let's get the facts straight here, again. He asked me, but not you. You're not included, so you can't play hero this time, save the damsel in distress...Well..."

Point for the Colonel.

"Mac, I know..."

His interruption leaves her annoyed, but not off focus. She cuts his protestations with a sneer.

"I wasn't finished, Commander! As I was saying, I'm a Marine, I..."

His face contorts in a hopeless expression and I can't blame him. Whenever, wherever, the Colonel will rub that fact in anyone's face as if just the uniform makes her invincible.

"Oh no, not again! Not the infamous 'I'm a Marine' speech of yours. It's getting old, don't you have another tune to whistle?"

Way to go, Commander! His flat-out statement of the obvious doesn't faze the fury in front of him though.

"Forgive me for being mistaken, but I never thought you actually heard it before. You never seem to believe in it anyway! So no, I'm just gonna use it until you get it. I AM A MARINE! I'm not one of your ditzy blond Barbie dolls who can't put on her shoes without asking you what's left or right. I don't need you and you can't stand it!"

He pales for a moment and it's clear she hit the bulls-eye. Suddenly, we all stop acting like we're busy and tune in on the daily soap opera again. This turn of events might catapult us into a new series, and this time, the fight seems all the more significant. There's no explanation, just a feeling.

Apparently, the Colonel feels it as well. She stands ramrod straight before him, but doesn't interrupt him as he clears his throat for another screaming match. At least, that's what we all expect. We're proven wrong. His doesn't raise his voice at all. But the detached, deep voice that replaces the earlier screaming is all the more frightening for its intensity.

"Very well then. Go. Just go get yourself killed. Prove to me, to everybody, to yourself how much of a self-fulfilled, gung-ho, semper-fi Marine you are. And whatever you do, don't look back. Imagine you should turn around and actually see what you're doing."

He's so close to letting go now and all of us know that our earlier feelings were right. We're about to witness a breakthrough. This is not just another fight. This is THE fight. The one that possibly ends it all, but hopefully starts it all. I wish for the latter. Not just because I care, but because if they finally 'get it right', that office pool winnings are mine. I wonder how much is in there...

"And what is it that I'm doing, Harm? Besided inihilating your precious aviator ego."

Low blow, in my opinion.

"Never mind my ego, Jarhead. That'll heal. As you would put it; it's big enough to take the blow."

At least he knows his own weak spots. But so does she.

"Taking the words right out of my mouth, Squid. Now, if you're done, I got a mission to prepare."

She turns to leave him standing there. For a moment, that's all he does, defeat eminating from his slumped down body. Damn! This is supposed to be the 'get it right' week. Guess I got my hopes up too soon. Should have known.

Then, right before Mac's about to close her office door, his voice, soft and pleading, void of all his strengths, calls out to her again in heartbreaking honesty.

"Hey Colonel? Wanna do me a favor?"

Slowly she turns on her heels, giving him an annoyed look, clearly not expecting him to get second wind. Then again, neither did we. He takes a step closer to her, blinking his eyes furiously. Is he crying? Can't believe it, but it does seem like he is. She sees it too, and for a moment, her demeanor changes from annoyance into...concern?

"What is it Harm?"

Like his, her tone of voice has changed too. It's soft, yet hesitant, unsure of his intentions, unsure of how to react.

"Watch yourself. Even if I shouldn't care whether or not the Marine makes it back, can you at least watch out for the woman I love? Don't let her get hurt."

Silence rules in the bull-pen as his words sink in, which takes the surrounding officers only a split second shorter than the Colonel herself.

She's gone pale. She swallows, hard. Takes one step toward him, then another, until she's almost face to face. When she speaks, all of us really have to lean in close in order to hear.

"Harm? What did you just day?"

Okay, so we all know that, by now, we should give them some privacy, but on the other hand, if they would have preferred to have this conversation just by the two of them, they shouldn't have picked a place like this. Not all of us have offices to retreat to. So, as we all do, I lean in some more.

"I think you heard me, Sarah. But just in case: I need you to bring Sarah back. You might not need me, but I do need you. It frightens me every time the Marine goes out to fight. She's strong and capable and I have full faith in her abilities, but she's not immortal. And if the Marine ends up getting hurt, than the woman I love gets hurt in the process."

Now we're all crying. This is the commander's vulnerable side and all of us pray that she won't kill it. Please proceed with care, Sarah.

"Harm, you can't turn me into two different people. There's no switch you can turn on and off as you please. Sarah is the Marine, the Marine is Sarah. You can't have one without the other."

Silence rules once more among the public. Except for some subdued sniffling.

"My point exactly, Mac. I love you. The jarhead, the woman, the lawyer, the friend...all the pieces of the personality that makes you uniquely you. If only you'd allow me. If you don't need the knight in shining armor, at least let me be the friend who needs to know you'll come back to him in one piece. Don't tell me it's not my place to be worried, because I'll be worried regardless."

Heaving a sigh, obviously exhausted after his monologue, he ends it with a final blow to her heart.

"If you don't need me, at least let me need you. Let me love you."

It's enough. One more step is all it takes for her to be wrapped up in his arms, his lips locking with hers. Both of them have tears in their eyes, both of them so completely zoned out that they don't even hear the round of applause gulfing through the bull-pen and my own personal cheer. I won the pool! When they do wake up from their haze, they break away reluctantly, but not before she gives him an answer.

"You can love me Harm, as I love you too."

His mouth forms that beautiful smile that could light up entire DC as he gathers her in his arms for a tight hug, all inflicted wounds healed again. When they finally disentangle themselves, she looks up at him with a whistful smile.

"But I still have to go, Harm. I agreed to it and I can't back down. But just wait a minute, okay? There's someone I have to talk to first."

She disappears into the Admiral's quarters, stepping out again not even five minutes later, leaving the door just slightly enough ajar for all of us to see the annoyed face of our favorite spook, Clayton Webb.

"Commander?" She turns to him with a smile.

"Yes?"

"Pack your bags and report to me for your briefing. We might need someone to watch our six."

Giving him a very quick peck, she adds softly: "Between us, I think Sarah will be just fine."

THE END

_Thanks for reading. Reviews much appreciated._


End file.
